If God Had Blessed Me
by InvisiblePuppeteer
Summary: All Derek wanted to do was to spend time with his girlfriend. All Hermione wanted was to finish her book. What else could they do but compromise? A cute little oneshot where not everyone gets their way, but it works out in the end. The title is not a religious statement-simply a quote from a good book


Hermione tensed in an effort not to snap at Derek. She was attempting to read her book, but she found that she couldn't concentrate on it when Derek kept doing that. It was…irksome.

"Derek, stop," she ground out a warning. She could almost see the smirk he was giving, even though he was standing on the other side of the couch.  
"Stop what, baby girl?" He was teasing her and she knew it.

"Reading over my shoulder, love," She responded, with an overly sweet tone. "Knock it off."

Derek was tired of being ignored. He had come over to see his girl and she had barely even acknowledged him. He was tired and stressed and had hoped to surprise her and spend the evening with her—not with her and her book. But being the bookworm that she was, she had kept her nose firmly planted in her book, despite his arrival.

Hell, she'd even opened the door while reading. He could have sworn that even when she greeted him she was still reading. She'd absently fixed him a cup of coffee while flipping to another page and then she nestled herself into the corner of the couch and seemingly forgot about him.

Perhaps the book was incredibly good, he'd thought to himself. So naturally, he leaned over the back of the couch to see what she was reading. As he was reading over her shoulder he noticed the soft skin of her neck and he couldn't resist placing light kisses on it. He loved the way she shivered ever so slightly at the lingering brush of his lips that caressed her skin and he hoped he had completely gotten her attention.

But all she did was shift her body on the couch. Her head tilted to the side and effectively cut of the chance for more kisses.  
Derek scowled. _Seriously?_ He thought. He decided on a new approach and he began running his fingers through her hair. It was by accident he had found out that Hermione liked her hair being played with. She had told him that she found it soothing and relaxing as his fingers worked through her tresses. He was allowed to play with her hair for a few minutes. Then the irritating woman set her book down, open in her lap so she could continue reading, and began to pull her hair into a bun.

Seconds later her hair was firmly fixed in a knot and he was almost at his wits end. "Hermione," he tried. When she didn't answer he sighed, wrapped his arms around her and went back to reading over her shoulder, neglecting to follow her earlier warning.

"Derek!" She grumbled in exasperation.

Oops. Apparently his arms had gotten in the way of her vision of the book. _Well_ , he reasoned, _at least it got her attention._

She shut her book with a crack and craned her neck to look at him. "What's gotten into you today? I'm just trying to read."

"Yeah, I can see that," he muttered, upset that she was getting angry with him. "But, you're ignoring me."

She groaned, "Derek, this is my only day off this week. Can't I just finish my book in peace?" She rubbed her tired eyes. All she wanted out of today as to read the book she'd been craving to read for weeks, however Kismet seem to have other plans for her today. First it was Harry and Ginny. They flooed over without as much as a patronus to announce their arrival—and caught her in her knickers and a red silken robe, no less. Harry and Ginny seemed to need a mediator for another one of their marital spats and she attempted to help only to get yelled at for telling them they were both wrong. Next thing she knew she was answering a call from work and they attempted to guilt her into coming in on her day off to fix something that shouldn't have broken. It seemed like every time she went back to her book, something new came to tear her away from it. Now even Derek was trying to stop her. All she had wanted was to read.

"I came over to spend time with you between cases. Not to hang around while you read."

Hermione sighed for what felt like the umpteenth time today. She could understand where Derek was coming from. It wasn't like they had had a lot of time together lately. She had been asked to pull more hours and Derek's cases seemed all come at once this time. "I'm sorry you feel ignored," she apologized. Evidently, she wasn't going to get to read her book after all. The thought deflated her and it must have shown on her face.

"I just wanted to spend some time with you before one of us gets dragged away," he pleaded in a sort of half apology.

"I know. I've missed you too, you know," she said, as she turned her full attention onto him and set her book on the nearby coffee table.

He leaned down for a kiss which she happily complied with. Seconds later, he found himself sitting by her side on the couch, happily holding her in his arms and kissing her. It wasn't until he had kissed her breathless that he thought to ask what she was reading. Hermione rolled her eyes at him and told him the title.  
"Pretty Boy mentioned that the other day," he recalled. "What's it about? I wasn't listening."

His girlfriend very suddenly had a mischievous glint in her eyes and Derek knew that he had just asked the wrong question.

Somehow his simple question about the content of the book had led to this. Derek was reclining on the couch with her head on his lap, one of his hands teasing through her hair and the other resting on her hip, with his thumb rubbing circles on the bare skin he found there. Hermione's voice, filled with emotion, rang out as she read the book aloud to him. " _'_ _Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! — I have as much soul as you — and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you. I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh: it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God's feet, equal — as we are_!'"

As Derek rested with her, he realized that even though this wasn't what he was hoping for, he didn't mind. He was quite content to sit with his woman and let her read to him. It surprised him that he was content with this situation, however he wasn't going to question it.

*quote from _Jane Eyre_ by Charlotte Bronte (My absolute favorite book).


End file.
